U.S. employers added 210,000 jobs in November, missing analyst expectations and providing mixed signals about the state of the economy. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2%. Year-over-year wage growth remained high at 4.8%.
The Numbers
210,000: The U.S. economy added 210,000 jobs in November.
4.2%: The unemployment rate fell to 4.2%.
4.8%: Wages rose 4.8% over the past year.
The Good
November’s jobs report is confusing, but there is good news. The labor participation rate, which has been largely flat, ticked up in November to 61.8%, the healthiest number since the pandemic began. As the New York Times reports, there was a large increase in labor force participation by both Hispanic men and Hispanic women, some of the hardest hit demographics. Additionally, the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, despite the relatively weak jobs numbers.
The Bad
The headline number of 210,000 jobs significantly missed analyst expectations. As MarketWatch reports, economists had predicted a gain of 573,000 new jobs. The retail sector lost jobs, while the leisure and hospitality sector, which has led job growth in recent reports, showed a gain of only 23,000. Despite the strong growth in 2021, the economy still remains 4 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, rising wages still point to a labor shortage, as wages in labor and hospitality soared 11.8% over the past year.
The Unknown
What makes November’s jobs report so confusing is the survey data used to come up with the 210,000 number. The Labor Department relies on two separate surveys to make those estimates, one of employers and another polling households. In November, employers reported 210,000 new jobs, but households reported that 1.1 million more people were working than the month before. Experts quoted in the New York Times say a gap that large is unprecedented, and it provides a much cloudier picture about the health of the economy.
Supporting Service Members with Career Counseling for a Major Retail Chain
A major multinational retail chain partnered with PeopleScout to support its counseling program for transitioning members of the military, veterans, military spouses, and National Guard and Reserves who are looking to take the next step in their career.
Dedicated career coaches for all program participants
Customizable career paths for participants
Virtual intake meetings and ongoing calls
Situation
This retailer has partnered with PeopleScout since 2013 to support its veteran hiring initiatives. In 2013 when the program launched, veteran unemployment was higher than civilian unemployment. PeopleScout supported the client with direct placement, helping veterans honorably discharged on or after Memorial Day 2013 to find jobs at the retailer. The spouse component was added in 2018.
In 2019, while the veteran unemployment rate had dropped to just under 3%, the retailer was aware of the challenges that military service members were still facing when transitioning to civilian employment. The client wanted to reinvent the program to put an emphasis on career coaching and counseling for all service members to help them apply their leadership skills and teamwork experience to new careers.
Solution
The new program, which officially launched in May 2021, broadens the umbrella of the program to include veterans of any era and actively serving members of all branches of the military, military spouses, and National Guard and Reserves as well. It connects program participants to a plethora of resources from various organizations that have been vetted by the client.
When a new member registers for the program, PeopleScout assigns them a coach who helps facilitate the transition into civilian work. The PeopleScout coach schedules a virtual coaching session with the participant to perform an initial intake. This intake assesses skills, helps identify goals and determines the time commitment they can make to the program.
From there, participants confirm three paths: employment, education, or entrepreneurship.
EMPLOYMENT
PeopleScout career counselors help participants assess their strengths, build their resume and translate their military experience in a way that it applies to the civilian workplace. They also help service members and spouses find opportunities that match their career goals—whether that means employment with the retail client or another organization.
EDUCATION
PeopleScout coaches help participants get the educational foundation they need to reach their overall career goals.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PeopleScout helps connect participants with the right resources to start their own businesses.
This emphasis on career counseling allows the participant to drive the program at their own pace and use their coach as much or as little as they like. Service members and spouses can take what they want from the program as they build their future.
Results
3,500+ registrants since program launch
At a Glance
COMPANY Multinational retailer
INDUSTRY Retail
PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
ABOUT THE RETAILER This U.S.-based retailer operates in 24 countries with 2.3 million employees. The organization has a rich history of supporting and hiring veterans and their spouses.
While marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, states continue to legalize the substance for both medical and recreational uses. Medical use is legal in 36 states, while 18 states now have legalized recreational cannabis. Now, some states and local governments have passed laws implementing restrictions or limitations on drug testing for marijuana.
Those jurisdictions include:
Boulder, Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
San Francisco, California
Rhode Island
Vermont
Employers that operate in any of these areas should consult with an attorney about the specifics of each local requirement. For example, in New York, the law prohibits employment discrimination against people who lawfully use recreational marijuana off duty, and in New Jersey, employers cannot take adverse employment actions based “solely” on a positive marijuana test. Depending on the specific jurisdiction, there may be financial penalties for failing to comply.
Additionally, you may trigger other employment when evaluating workplace marijuana issues, such as discrimination and disability accommodation laws.
However, as marijuana remains illegal federally, state laws generally contain exceptions for employers regulated by federal law. There are also generally protections for “safety-sensitive” jobs like truck drivers or forklift operators. On-the-job use or possession of marijuana is not allowed in any jurisdiction, nor is impairment or working under the influence of marijuana.
Because of the growing popularity of these laws and a tight labor market, many employers have stopped testing for marijuana, according to Bloomberg Law. In one high profile case, Amazon announced that the company would stop testing workers for marijuana, citing the complex patchwork of state and local laws. Business Insider also reports that company officials have also tied the decision to the labor shortage, with Amazon senior VP of human resources Beth Galetti saying, “Eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis allows us to expand our applicant pool.”
Progress in Action: Moving Toward A Globally Diverse and Inclusive Workplace
Improving organizational diversity is a honorable pursuit for employers across all industries and should be a consistent point of focus for forward-thinking talent teams. Building productive teams from a pool of qualified job seekers irrespective of nationality, gender-identity, ethnicity, religious background and sexual orientation is essential to creating a workplace that reflects the communities that it serves.
So, how can you help your organization better connect with, source, engage and recruit a more diverse and inclusive workforce? In this ebook, we examine how your organization can update your DE&I program with modern diversity strategies.
In this ebook you will learn:
How to accurately measure your DE&I program’s progress and goals
How to source candidates from underrepresented groups
[On-Demand]: Data and Diversity: Using Technology to Achieve Your DE&I Goals
Leading talent professionals understand that creating an inclusive, equitable and diverse workplace is more than just the “right” thing to do. In fact, implementing an effective diversity and inclusion program can change the game by challenging the status quo and creating a vibrant and more productive workplace culture. Positioning DE&I at the heart of your talent acquisition and management program now will equip your organization for long-term success.
But how do you know if you’re making progress against your goals? Do you have the data to fine-tune and optimize your recruitment process?
Join PeopleScout’s Elizabeth Karkula, associate product manager, and Jason Kaplan, business intelligence manager, for our on-demand webinar Data and Diversity: Using Technology to Achieve Your DE&I Goals.
Elizabeth and Jason will discuss practical and immediately applicable strategies that have the potential to transform your organization’s DE&I program.
This webinar will cover:
Three smart ways to leverage data for DE&I success
How to accurately measure your DE&I program’s progress and goals
How to optimize your sourcing channels for candidates from diverse groups
The U.S. economy gained a strong 531,000 jobs in October, beating analyst expectations. The leisure and hospitality sector led with 164,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6%. Year-over-year wage growth remained high at 4.9%.
The Numbers
531,000: The U.S. economy added 531,000 jobs in October.
4.6%: The unemployment rate fell to 4.6%.
4.9%: Wages grew 4.9% over the past year.
The Good
October’s jobs report is full of good news. The 531,000 jobs added to the economy – the largest increase since July–beat analyst expectations, and the gains were spread across a wide variety of sectors. The government was the only sector that saw a decrease in jobs. The New York Times noted that with this report, the economy shows signs of normalizing.
The unemployment rate also fell to 4.6%, something that analysts hadn’t predicted would happen until the end of 2021. Other data shows that anxiety over the pandemic and the surge of the Delta variant has been decreasing. The percentage of people working from home because of COVID-19 fell to 11.6% during the month of October, the lowest number since the start of the pandemic.
The Bad
The one disappointing number in October’s report is that the overall labor participation rate remained flat, which means the strong job growth was not enough to bring sidelined workers back into the job market. On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal reports that 180,000 women did enter the workforce in October. Women were more severely impacted by the pandemic, and October’s increase represents modest progress—even though it was not enough to move the overall number.
The Unknown
Economists are watching to see what will bring more workers back into the job market. As MarketWatch reports, the labor participation rate is near its lowest level since the early 1970s. Business have been raising wages to try to attract more workers, and October’s 4.9% year-over-year wage growth represents the highest growth since tracking started in 2006.
Experts had also hoped the end of unemployment benefits in September and the start of the 2021-2022 school year would bring more workers back, but so far progress has been slow.
Hospitality staffing teams and retail recruiters are finding it more challenging than ever to recruit and retain employees. While recruitment and retention issues have long beleaguered the retail and hospitality industries, the pandemic has exacerbated long-standing difficulties:
According to the National Restaurant Association, 75% of operators listed recruiting and retaining talent as a top business challenge, an all-time high.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association estimate the accommodation industry is not expected to reach previous employment levels until at least 2023, eliminating more than 10 years of job growth in the industry.
In this article, we’ll look at the hiring challenges that retailers and hospitality organizations are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide talent acquisition strategies to overcome them.
The Retail Recruiting and Hospitality Staffing Landscape
With so many jobs available, why are retail recruiters and hospitality staffing professionals having trouble finding applicants? While there are numerous reasons why employers are finding it harder to fill these vacancies common candidate concerns include:
Patrons are not as generous as they once were. According to a Harris Poll conducted for Fast Company, 19% of Americans said they tip less now than before COVID-19. Even amid loosening restrictions, many restaurants still operate on a drive-thru or carry out-only basis – and tipping isn’t as generous or common. With waitstaff making an average of $7.00 per hour, tips are an essential portion of overall compensation. That bleeds through to hotel staff, too, as cleaners, bartenders and servers also rely on tips to supplement their salaries.
Loyal long-term employees who were let go may feel let down and underappreciated by their former employers and may be hesitant to reenter the hospitality or retail industry.
It’s a candidates’ market, despite unemployment numbers. With lessening restrictions, many businesses are re-opening – and they are all hiring at the same time, creating more competition for the same pool of talent.
To tackle these challenges, talent leaders must think outside the box. This means identifying new and non-traditional ways to incentivize potential candidates to apply for open positions. While improving compensation and benefits is a critical component to recruiting in the current talent market, there are additional strategies you can deploy. Below, we cover key retail and hospitality recruiting challenges and how your organization can overcome them.
Hospitality and Retail Recruiting Challenges and Solutions
Challenge: Hospitality and Retail Recruitment is Highly Decentralized
Large retailers and hospitality chains often have a decentralized recruiting process where managers are solely responsible for making recruitment decisions within their store or geographic location.
Decentralized recruitment processes vary from organization to organization. However, a common theme of this talent acquisition strategy is that it allows for greater autonomy and decision-making freedom for frontline managers. What’s more, a decentralized recruitment strategy is effective for geographically diverse organizations where each location may have specific, localized hiring requirements, labor laws and talent demographics.
Unfortunately, decentralization can lead to obstacles during turbulent labor markets. A lack of consistency, discipline and standardization across various locations can lead to a disorganized hiring process with varying policies, pay grades and a lack of coordination across geographies. This decentralization can make it difficult for talent leaders to ensure hiring practices are unbiased and ethical for every location within their organization.
Moreover, decentralization can run counter to an organization’s wider goals such as increasing compensation, diversity and inclusion initiatives and ensuring that new pandemic-related policies are being closely adhered to.
The Solution: Consider Centralizing Talent Acquisition
Centralized recruitment is a popular strategy among many employers outside of the retail and hospitality industries.
Operating within a more centralized recruitment infrastructure allows internal recruiting teams to develop reliable policies and universal standards for the hiring process across locations.
When hiring processes are standardized across an organization, all employees are hired using the same criteria, making it easier to share team members across locations if there is another store with employees capable of doing the same job.
What’s more, some organizations take a hybrid approach by having both centralized and decentralized recruiting functions, with some decisions and hiring policies deployed across the organization while others are implemented locally.
Whichever recruitment model you decide to pursue, a recruitment process outsourcing provider (RPO) can help retail recruiters and hospitality organizations centralize or hybridize their recruitment function. RPO providers work closely with internal talent teams to build out talent acquisition infrastructure and best practices enterprise-wide. RPO providers also lend support in sourcing, interviewing and hiring talent and can deploy advanced talent analytics technology for deeper insights into workforce trends.
Challenge: Hospitality and Retail Recruitment is Often Conducted Face-to-Face
Traditionally, most candidates apply for retail and hospitality roles in person. However, as the pandemic persists, some would-be applicants may be hesitant to apply or interview face-to-face.
Solution: Take Hospitality and Retail Recruiting Interviews Virtual
Incorporating video interviewing into your talent acquisition toolbox can save your team hours of candidate sourcing and phone screens.
Virtual interviewing technology allows employers to have live, two-way video or a pre-recorded video interviews that candidates can do on their own time and from the safety of their home at their convenience. Video interviewing technology can be used to support a wide range of recruiting functions from candidate screening to offers and onboarding.
Virtual interviewing, when paired with technologies such as text recruiting tools, offer enormous opportunities to improve recruiter efficiency, time to hire and build stronger relationships with candidates.
Challenges: Sourcing Hospitality and Retail Candidates with the Right Skills and Experience
According to a recent McKinsey Global Survey, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the question of how to address the skills gap more urgent. Nearly 90% of executives surveyed said current skills gaps are expected to increase in their workforce within the next few years, but less than half have a plan to address the issue.
To find the right employees, you should strongly consider expanding your definition of what qualifies as relevant experience. For example, if you have an applicant with no experience in retail, no experience operating a point-of-sale system and no experience managing other employees, you might be quick to write them off as an under-qualified candidate. However, you may be missing out on an ideal potential employee with the right soft skills to excel in the role, skills in short supply in retail and hospitality.
In fact, according to an SHRM report, talent and HR professionals in accommodation, food services and retail/wholesale were more likely than those in other industries to say that candidates did not have the right workplace soft skills such as problem-solving, interpersonal skills, communication, teamwork and leadership.
The Solution: Expand Your Talent Pool with Non-Traditional Candidates
A candidate who might not have the “right skills” at first glance could potentially become a top performer with a little on-the-job training and instruction. Instead of focusing so much on hard retail or hospitality skills and experience, keep your eyes open for candidates with transferable experience and skills such as customer-facing roles, managing finances, organizational skills 2 0789uiand other skill sets that may translate well. A Harvard Business Review article exploring the challenges employers face in “hiring low-skill, entry-level workers when economic conditions improve” highlighted how forward-thinking retail and hospitality organizations are boosting talent and business outcomes by adopting a recruiting model known as open hiring.
Open hiring looks for reasons to hire a candidate, rather than finding ways to exclude them. Major retail employers, including Ben & Jerry’s, Whole Foods and The Body Shop, have had success through open hiring strategies, including improvements in turnover, increases in productivity and a more resilient business continuity plan.
Has this person shown an ability to learn new skills quickly?
Does this person exhibit a positive attitude and the ability to work on a team?
Has this person displayed an aptitude for solving problems efficiently?
Hospitality Staffing and Retail Recruiting Is Crucial for Recovery
In retail and hospitality, every unfilled position represents missed opportunities to better serve your customers. While recruiting for retail and hospitality staffing at the moment might seem like a daunting task, implementing the right strategies and technology might just be the key to providing hiring managers and candidates alike with the tools to better navigate the industry’s new normal.
At PeopleScout, we are committed to providing you with information to help guide you on your DE&I journey. We aim to cover a wide range of DE&I topics, including issues regarding BIPOC, the LGBTQ+ community, gender gaps, people with disabilities and more. This article is the next in our library of DE&I resources, and specifically focuses on the Hispanic and Latinx community.
In the U.S., National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15 to October 15 to honor the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latinx Americans by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
And it’s no doubt their contributions have been great—especially in the workforce and to the economy. Consider the impact this group has had and will continue to have in the future:
Creators of Jobs Within the last decade, 86% of all new businesses in the U.S. have been launched by U.S. Latinos, with Latinas creating business six times faster than any other group.
Yet, organizations still lack Hispanic representation across all seniority levels. People of Hispanic or Latinx ethnicity make up 18% of the labor force but only 4.3% of executive positions in the U.S., making the gap between the labor force and executive representation wider among Hispanics than any other group.
So how can organizations do their part in closing this gap? Employers should make conscious efforts to attract and retain this diverse group of talent and provide them with opportunities for growth and development.
Understanding the Many Names of this Diverse Group
Before you can effectively attract candidates from Hispanic and Latinx backgrounds, it’s important to understand the terminology that identifies this unique group.
According to Pew Research Center, “the terms ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Latino’ are pan-ethnic terms meant to describe—and summarize—the population of people living in the U.S. of that ethnic background.”
Some have drawn distinctions between the two terms, and their widely used definitions can be summarized as the following:
Hispanic: A person residing in the U.S. with descent from Spanish-speaking countries (this excludes Brazil, where Portuguese is the official language).
Latino: A person of Latin American descent residing in the U.S. (this includes Brazil but excludes Spain).
However, this group has mixed views on how they prefer to describe their identity, with over half describing themselves by their country of origin.
In recent years, a new term has emerged as an alternative to Hispanic and Latino: Latinx. The term is one of many in the global movement around gender-neutral language. Latinx serves as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina and aims to encompass Latin American and Hispanic people from all racial backgrounds while also including those who identify as transgender, queer, agender, non-binary, gender non-conforming or gender fluid.
According to trend data from Google, the term first appeared online in 2004, but didn’t begin to gain momentum and wider usage until 2014. Today, it sees use around the world, most often in the U.S.
And much like the terms ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Latino’, surveys also reveal mixed feelings on ‘Latinx’ among the population it is meant to represent. Younger people, ages 18-29, are most likely to have heard of and use the term, while older people 65 and up are least likely. Specifically, use is the highest among young Hispanic women—14% say they use it, compared to the 1% of Hispanic men in the same age range. Here are other factors that impact how likely a U.S. Hispanic person is to have heard of Latinx and use the term:
Whether the term Latinx should be adopted as a pan-ethnic term for the U.S. Hispanic and Latino population is still up for debate, with one third of those who have heard the term believing it should be used more broadly, according to data from the Pew Research Center.
Like many scholars, journalists, activists and publications, PeopleScout will opt to use the term for the remainder of this article in an attempt to better include the many groups of people who make up the Latinx population.
Strategies to Recruit and Retain Hispanic and Latinx Candidates
If your organization is committed to improving its diversity, equity and inclusion practices, Latinx employees are a vital group to include in this initiative. Latinx individuals come from a wide variety of backgrounds, making the group extremely diverse in culture within itself. By including people from this group across your organization and in executive positions, your business will be better equipped to evolve and innovate as time goes on. Consider these strategies for recruiting and retaining Latinx candidates.
Recruit with Intention Employers need to be intentional in improving representation of Latinx employees in leadership and across the workforce. Make it a point to recruit from industries and universities that are highly diverse.
“If you do not have intentionality with diversity and inclusion, you have nothing.” – Cid Wilson, President and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (via Invariant)
Utilize Employee Testimonials Show candidates that your organization is home to diverse talent by showcasing those employees in your recruitment marketing tactics. You can share their experiences working for your organization through quotes, videos, personal stories or recruiting case studies. It is especially important to highlight diverse talent from all levels of your business.
Expand Your Search When possible, it can be beneficial to expand your talent search nationwide, or even internationally as your organization allows. With the immense rise in remote work since the onset of the pandemic, many Latinx candidates will be looking to organizations with remote and flexible work options as they make the next move in their careers. Or, if your business requires in-person work, a competitive offer might have that top talent considering relocating for the position.
Leverage Employee Networks Look to your existing Latinx employees, as well as all employees, for diverse referrals. In addition, you should seek input from these employees on how to attract candidates with similar backgrounds, as well as hear their ideas for organizational change and goals. In other words, empower them to have a voice.
Provide Mentorship Even if your organization is highly diverse, any member of a minority group might feel excluded at times. By providing opportunities for mentorship both with individuals of the same background as well as those with different backgrounds, employees will feel more included. Encourage mentors to help employees meet their professional goals so they can grow within the organization.
How to Support Your Hispanic and Latinx Employees
Recruiting Latinx employees is the first step in improving diversity in your organization. The next is focusing on ways to make those employees feel supported and included.
For example, at PeopleScout and the broader TrueBlue organization, we have the Hispanic Opportunity & Latin Awareness (HOLA) employee resource group to embrace and support our Latinx employees and associates within the communities we serve. HOLA aims to increase cultural competency and awareness around Latinx issues and concerns throughout TrueBlue, support TrueBlue’s efforts to attract and retain the best Latinx talent and provide the development and support necessary for Latinx employees to grow both personally and professionally.
Here are examples of other companies with impressive initiatives to support their Latinx employees:
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola’s “Hispanic Leadership Business Resource Group” offers its Hispanic and Latinx employees development, networking, community involvement opportunities and helps the company drive innovative business ideas. In 2017, the group had an idea for a Point-of-Sale Spanish Adaptation Tool which allowed bilingual employees to submit their interpretation of Coca-Cola taglines and phrases in different Spanish dialects to avoid the phrases losing their meaning through literal translations.
Furthermore, the company showed their commitment to Hispanic and Latinx employees when there was uncertainty about Dreamers in the U.S. by covering the $500 DACA renewal fees for employees in the program.
Ellucian Ellucian, a software and solutions development company for higher education, gave employees a sense of belonging by celebrating their heritage. The company planned volunteer events, office potlucks celebrating Latinx and Hispanic culture, highlights of influential Hispanic Americans, and an Instagram takeover for Latinx employees to share their experiences working at Ellucian. The first takeover on the company’s Instagram account came from the leader of ¡wepa!, the company’s Latinx ERG.
General Motors General Motors, a vehicle manufacturing company, supports Hispanic employees from the very beginning by specifically targeting professional Hispanic organizations and Hispanic Serving Institutions as part of their recruiting strategy. The company focuses on raising the number of Hispanic professionals in STEM through their recruiting efforts and by providing over $5 million in scholarships for Hispanic STEM students.
Leidos When the defense, aviation, IT, and biomedical research company discovered that the Hispanic and Latinx community was being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 nationwide, they made it their priority to help. Leido’s Latinx ERG partnered with the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs in Washington, D.C. and Neighborhood Health in Alexandria, VA to donate more than 6,000 face masks and 1,500 bottles of hand sanitizer to help combat the spread of COVID-19 within Latinx communities in those areas.
You can find more examples of companies who prioritize their Hispanic and Latinx employees here.
Hispanic and Latinx Inclusion in the New World of Work
The new world of work is not just about where and how work is done, but it’s about the people who are doing the work. It’s a candidate’s market, and people will choose employers who care about their employees as people. In order to be truly successful, organizations must fully understand their workforce, starting with their employees’ diverse backgrounds and identities.
By understanding your underrepresented groups of people, like Hispanic and Latinx employees, consciously recruiting them, celebrating their heritage and investing in their growth, we’ll work our way toward a workforce with equal representation and strong inclusion of diverse groups across industries and at all levels of seniority.
The U.S. economy gained a disappointing 194,000 jobs in September, missing analyst expectations. The lower numbers were due, in part, to a significant drop in government employment, while private employers grew. The unemployment rate fell to 4.8% as more workers exited the labor force. Year-over-year wage growth was at 4.5%.
The Numbers
194,000: The U.S. economy added 194,000 jobs in September.
4.8%: The unemployment rate fell to 4.8%.
4.5%: Wages rose 4.5% over the past year.
The Good
Though the 194,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy demonstrate slowing job growth, the private sector is faring better than the headline numbers suggest. According to CNBC and the New York Times, the 194,000 figure appears worse because of a 123,000 job decline in government work, including a 180,000 job decline in education. The decline in education jobs can be attributed, in part, to a seasonal adjustment that occurs each year in September and doesn’t necessarily represent recent job losses. In September, private payrolls increased by 317,000, and the estimates for July and August were adjusted up by 169,000 jobs combined.
The Bad
One headline number in September is worse than it initially appears: the falling unemployment rate. The rate fell from August’s 5.2% to 4.8%, but that drop came largely because 183,000 people left the labor force. According to MarketWatch, the labor participation rate of 61.1% is still two full points behind pre-pandemic levels.
The Unknown
The Wall Street Journal reports that economists are still waiting to see what will bring workers back into the labor force. Companies report difficulty filling roles, and wages are rising as much as 10.9% year-over-year in some sectors, suggesting a tight labor market. Economists had predicted more people to reenter the labor force in the fall as students returned to school and enhanced unemployment benefits ran out. So far, it hasn’t been enough.
The U.S. economy gained a disappointing 235,000 jobs in August. Women accounted for only 11.9% of those gains. Economists say the disappointing numbers show the impact of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The unemployment rate fell to 5.2%. Year-over-year wage growth was at 3.1%.
The Numbers
235,000: The U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in August.
5.2%: The unemployment rate fell to 5.2%.
3.1%: Wages rose 3.1% over the past year.
The Good
The 5.2% unemployment rate is good news, as economists had expected the rate to fall to about that level, according to the New York Times. Additionally, the gain of 235,000 jobs would have been good news in a pre-pandemic year. While economists had predicted a bigger jump in jobs numbers, the economy is still growing despite the growing impact of the Delta variant. The manufacturing, transportation and warehousing and finance sectors saw significant growth.
The Bad
August’s report was largely disappointing, as economists had predicted an increase of 720,000 jobs, according to the Wall Street Journal. The biggest disappointment came in the industries most strongly impacted by the pandemic, leisure and hospitality, which saw no growth in August, and retail, which shed 28,500 jobs. Women were also left behind in August, accounting for only 11.9% of August’s job growth.
The Unknown
The most obvious culprit for August’s disappointing report is the surging Delta variant, which is driving increased cases, hospitalizations and deaths around the country. Some jurisdictions have added new mask mandates or restrictions to slow the spread. MarketWatch also reports a decline in flying, hotel bookings and restaurant reservations.
However, despite rising wages and high volumes of job postings, employers report difficulty filling roles. Economists have expected more women to reenter the labor force in September as children return to school, and expiring federal unemployment benefits could also push some Americans back to work. However, millions of workers near retirement age left the workforce in 2020 and are less likely to return. Economists say both factors are likely impacting August’s report, and they will be important to watch through the end of the year.
